Most waves do not look very simple. Complex waves are more interesting, even beautiful, but they look formidable. Most interesting mechanical waves consist of a combination of two or more traveling waves propagating in the same medium.
The principle of superposition can be used to analyze the combination of waves.
Consider two simple pulses of the same amplitude moving toward one another in the same medium, as shown inFigure 16.19. Eventually, the waves overlap, producing a wave that has twice the amplitude, and then continue on unaffected by the encounter. The pulses are said to interfere, and this phenomenon is known as interference.
Figure 16.19 Two pulses moving toward one another experience interference. The term interference refers to what happens when two waves overlap.
To analyze the interference of two or more waves, we use the principle of superposition. For mechanical waves, the principle of superposition states that if two or more traveling waves combine at the same point, the resulting position of the mass element of the medium, at that point, is the algebraic sum of the position due to the individual waves. This property is exhibited by many waves observed, such as waves on a string, sound waves, and surface water waves. Electromagnetic waves also obey the superposition principle, but the electric and magnetic fields of the combined wave are added instead of the displacement of the medium. Waves that obey the superposition principle are linear waves; waves that do not obey the superposition principle are said to be nonlinear waves. In this chapter, we deal with linear waves, in particular, sinusoidal waves.
The superposition principle can be understood by considering the linear wave equation. InMathematics of a Wave, we defined a linear wave as a wave whose mathematical representation obeys the linear wave equation. For a transverse wave on a string with an elastic restoring force, the linear wave equation is
∂2y(x, t)
∂x2 = 1
v2∂2y(x, t)
∂t2 .
Any wave function y(x, t) = y(x ∓ vt), where the argument of the function is linear (x ∓ vt) is a solution to the linear wave equation and is a linear wave function. If wave functions y1(x, t) and y2(x, t) are solutions to the linear wave equation, the sum of the two functions y1(x, t) + y2(x, t) is also a solution to the linear wave equation. Mechanical waves that obey superposition are normally restricted to waves with amplitudes that are small with respect to their wavelengths. If the amplitude is too large, the medium is distorted past the region where the restoring force of the medium is linear.
Waves can interfere constructively or destructively. Figure 16.20 shows two identical sinusoidal waves that arrive at the same point exactly in phase.Figure 16.20(a) and (b) show the two individual waves,Figure 16.20(c) shows the
resultant wave that results from the algebraic sum of the two linear waves. The crests of the two waves are precisely aligned, as are the troughs. This superposition produces constructive interference. Because the disturbances add, constructive interference produces a wave that has twice the amplitude of the individual waves, but has the same wavelength.
Figure 16.21 shows two identical waves that arrive exactly 180° out of phase, producing destructive interference.
Figure 16.21(a) and (b) show the individual waves, andFigure 16.21(c) shows the superposition of the two waves.
Because the troughs of one wave add the crest of the other wave, the resulting amplitude is zero for destructive interference—the waves completely cancel.
Figure 16.20 Constructive interference of two identical waves produces a wave with twice the amplitude, but the same wavelength.
Figure 16.21 Destructive interference of two identical waves, one with a phase shift of 180°(π rad), produces zero amplitude, or complete cancellation.
When linear waves interfere, the resultant wave is just the algebraic sum of the individual waves as stated in the principle of superposition.Figure 16.22shows two waves (red and blue) and the resultant wave (black). The resultant wave is the algebraic sum of the two individual waves.
Figure 16.22 When two linear waves in the same medium interfere, the height of resulting wave is the sum of the heights of the individual waves, taken point by point. This plot shows two waves (red and blue) added together, along with the resulting wave (black). These graphs represent the height of the wave at each point. The waves may be any linear wave, including ripples on a pond, disturbances on a string, sound, or electromagnetic waves.
The superposition of most waves produces a combination of constructive and destructive interference, and can vary from place to place and time to time. Sound from a stereo, for example, can be loud in one spot and quiet in another. Varying loudness means the sound waves add partially constructively and partially destructively at different locations. A stereo has at least two speakers creating sound waves, and waves can reflect from walls. All these waves interfere, and the resulting wave is the superposition of the waves.
We have shown several examples of the superposition of waves that are similar.Figure 16.23illustrates an example of the superposition of two dissimilar waves. Here again, the disturbances add, producing a resultant wave.
Figure 16.23 Superposition of nonidentical waves exhibits both constructive and destructive interference.
At times, when two or more mechanical waves interfere, the pattern produced by the resulting wave can be rich in complexity, some without any readily discernable patterns. For example, plotting the sound wave of your favorite music can look quite complex and is the superposition of the individual sound waves from many instruments; it is the complexity that makes the music interesting and worth listening to. At other times, waves can interfere and produce interesting phenomena, which are complex in their appearance and yet beautiful in simplicity of the physical principle of superposition, which formed the resulting wave. One example is the phenomenon known as standing waves, produced by two identical waves moving in different directions. We will look more closely at this phenomenon in the next section.
Try thissimulation (https://openstaxcollege.org/l/21waveinterfer)to make waves with a dripping faucet, audio speaker, or laser! Add a second source or a pair of slits to create an interference pattern. You can observe one source or two sources. Using two sources, you can observe the interference patterns that result from varying the frequencies and the amplitudes of the sources.